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The old saying, “Hard work pays off”, came to light recently for Bladen County gymnast, Arianna Long and her team from Lumberton Gymnastics Academy at the Disney Magical Classic International Competition.
Arianna and the rest of the Silver team from the academy competed at the international meet in Orlando, Florida in February.
Arianna received first place all around, second place on the vault, second place on the bars, fourth place on the beam and fourth place on the floor. Her team, the Silver team, won third place all around at the meet and have all qualified to compete in the North Carolina State meet.
Arianna has been learning gymnastics at the academy under director, Kenan Lundy, for around five years, according to her mom, Natasha Long. When she first started gymnastics, Arianna said it was just to have something to do, but then she found she really enjoyed the sport.
When we asked Arianna how she felt about winning first place she said, “It was a shock and super exciting! There were a lot of other good girls there. I didn’t think I had done better than those other girls. It was surprising that I made first place.”
Natasha was emotional talking about her daughter’s achievements. She said, “It’s nice when her hard work pays off because she does work hard.”
Not only is Ariana working in the gym around 9 hours every week, but she is also in Junior Beta Club at her school, and she loves art as well, according to her mom.
Arianna’s next completion will be the North Carolina State meet held in Concord and has her goals set to qualify for regionals, where she will compete against girls from eight different states.
Ambition is something Arianna does not lack. She said, “When I get to regionals, that will be my accomplishment.”
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